The Road to Redemption
by Misha
Summary: Companion to "The Road to Ruin". After Randy Orton attacks his wife on Raw, Triple H thinks back to the events that brought them back together...


The Road to Redemption  
By Misha

Disclaimer- I don't own any of the characters of the story, it all belongs to someone else. I'm not making any money off this, so please don't sue me.

Author's Note- After watching the Feb. 16th episode of Raw when Triple H ran down to save Stephanie, I started wondering about how they'd explain it story line wise. I know that Stephanie McMahon and Paul Levesque are married in real life, but this story focuses on the story line and their on-screen personas. This is my way of explaining how they came from being bitterly divorced to the happily married parents of two children in less than a decade. I'm starting this and "The Road to Ruin" at the same time, because to me there basically the same story. "The Road to Ruin" is how Hunter and Stephanie came together and how they fell apart, this story is about how they found their way back together. For me, I see "The Road to Ruin" as more Stephanie's story and this one more as Hunter's and that's how I'm writing it. They don't ever really intersect, "The Road to Ruin" will end months before this story starts, but they're part of the same story and are meant to be read as a whole--or they will be once they're done. That's all for now, enjoy!

Pairings- Stephanie McMahon/Hunter Hearst Helmsley.

Summery- After Randy Orton attacks his wife on Raw, Triple H thinks back to the events that brought them back together...

Rating- PG-13

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Prologue: The Love of His Life

_February 2009  
_  
Hunter raced into the arena, praying that he wasn't too late.

His cell phone battery had given out on him during his call with Stephanie and that meant he had no way of communicating with her. All he could do was try his best to get to the arena before anything happened.

He was definitely worried since he knew Stephanie and he knew that she would confront Orton. She couldn't help it, it was in her nature. Stephanie couldn't just walk away from anyone, especially when it involved someone she loved, so Hunter knew that if Shane got into it with Orton, Stephanie would definitely get involved.

As soon as Hunter got close enough to see the ring, he knew he was too late. Orton was standing in the ring, a glazed look on his face, and Stephanie was laying there on the ground. Shane was on the ground as well, being attended to by a medical team.

Still, Hunter gave his brother-in-law only a passing thought as he raced to his wife's side and gathered her in his arms.

"Hunter." She whispered weakly.

"It's me, baby, I'm here." He assured her, gathering her tight against him.

As he gathered Stephanie tight in his arms, he caught a glimpse of Orton running from the arena. So the bastard was afraid of him him, huh? That was good, he should be. No one messed with Hunter's family and got away with it. Still, he had plenty of time to deal with Randy Orton later, right now he needed to focus on Stephanie.

Carefully, Hunter helped her get to her feet. "Are you okay?" He asked, putting his arm around her when she swayed.

Stephanie smiled at him weakly. "I am now that you're here."

"I'll always be here for you, Steph." He promised, though he couldn't help but think of all the times he hadn't been.

There had been a time when he'd let Stephanie down badly, as well as battles she'd had to fight on her own, much to his regret. But that was then, he and Stephanie had come a long way from who they used to be.

After Hunter helped his wife into her office so the EMTs could get a good look at her, he just stood there, watching her and thinking about how far they had come.

He and Steph... They'd thought they'd had it all once, but they'd been too young, too arrogant then and they'd lost it all in the blink of an eye. And yet... Somehow they'd managed to recapture it. Despite everything he and Stephanie had managed to find their way back to each other and that was the greatest miracle of all...

Hunter closed his eyes and let himself remember that journey, the remember the way he and Stephanie had found their way back to one another...

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End file.
